Police said that the accident closed I-10. Late Thursday night, I-10 East remained closed but the westbound lanes had been reopened.

It had not been revealed how many vehicles were involved in the accident, the number of people injured or the names of those killed.

Police said that traffic crash investigators from other parts of the state were on their way to the scene on I-10 Thursday night.

The accident occurred at the start of the travel period for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service in Tucson on Thursday afternoon had reported "dry thunderstorms" east of Tucson and issued "Blowing Dust Advisory" for Interstate 10 between Tucson west to Casa Grande, Arizona. The advisory stated that high winds and low visibility could make driving hazardous. Drivers had been advised to pull to the side when encountering blowing dust that lowered visibility.

It is not uncommon for dust storms to close stretches of I-10 in the area of New Mexico-Arizona state line because blowing dust causes visibility difficult.